> You just have to show that you are willing to take them to court
This only deters small firms. If you can afford to fight, it’s currently worth it. The FTC will show up unprepared [1], and you will win. Wall Street loves Lina.
*If* you are taken to court, it’s probably always worth the fight, losing such a trial has massive consequences.
However, in the past, that was an empty threat, the FTC would only take cases to court that they would win 100% - which vastly errs on the side of caution. It also meant that you could basically expect never to be challenged on a merger.
That has changed now. Now, there is a real chance that your mergers and anticompetitive behavior will get examined and THAT is the deterrent. The new FTCs behavior causes ripples long before an actual court case.
There is a difference between „I will never get taken to court“ and „I will probably get taken to court, and then I will probably win but honestly, all bets are off“.
This only deters small firms. If you can afford to fight, it’s currently worth it. The FTC will show up unprepared [1], and you will win. Wall Street loves Lina.
[1] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.224...